Three Business Lessons From Deployment Of Troops In Mountainous Region-Sun Zi

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Three Business Lessons From Deployment Of Troops In Mountainous Region-Sun Zi

In the section "Deployment in Mountainous Area" in Chapter Nine of Sun Zi Art of War lies three business lessons and what are they? Let us have a look.

Business Application

Lesson One

After crossing the mountains, move and stay close to the valleys.

The reason why Sun Zi advocate that after crossing the mountains, troops is to stay close to the valleys because this is where usually food and water are abundant and close by. From here and other parts of Sun Zi Art of War, we have seen that Sun Zi place great emphasis on supplies and provisions, as they are very important to troops. Thus it is important that there is a continuous supply.

In business, it is of great importance that you are near raw materials supplies or have at least two transport routes for both your raw materials and finished goods. Try to establish good relationship with suppliers and distributors. Do not depend on only one supplier or distributor because you are exposing yourself to unnecessary risk.

Lesson Two

For a commanding view and to ensure better chances of survival, occupy high grounds.

Sun Zi also advocates that a troop should occupy high grounds so as to have a commanding view and also to use the momentum provided. Why do you need a commanding view of the surroundings? The reason is because you would be able to notice when your enemy’s is approaching and you can be prepared to engage them. Another reason for the commanding view is to be familiarize with the surrounding terrain. Having a good knowledge of the surrounding terrain would allow one to change plans with great confidence since the conditions in war are very dynamic.

In business, this means that you should have as much information about your enemy and the market as well. With more information, you can be more detailed in your plans and be better prepared to take on your competitors with confidence.

Lesson Three

When the enemy has occupied high grounds, do not attempt an assault.

The reason why Sun Zi mentioned this is because high grounds can turn the enemy’s troops into round logs and boulders rolling down and from the verse mentioned at the end of Chapter Five (Please refer to "Two Essential Factors in Exploiting Forces"), we have known that these rolling logs and boulders have very destructive effects and strong momentum.

In business, we must avoid a competitor who has the benefit of rising momentum. This means that he was able to tap on certain trends that are ongoing. The other thing we can do besides avoiding head on clash with such competitor is to try to limit damages. For example, a competitor is able to come up with an innovative product that captures the new consumer trends. This will definitely erode the market share you have. One way to limit the damage could be to have promotion or sales gimmicks to retain and protect your market share.

So above are the three lessons we can learn from Sun Zi’s principles of deploying troops in mountainous region.